Vyatta adds VPN capability to its open source router

Linux-based router company says its router/firewall/VPN code matches Cisco, Juniper offerings

By Phil Hochmuth, Network World, 03/12/07

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Vyatta is adding VPN support to the latest release of its open source router/firewall product. Vyatta says with its IPSec VPN function, combined with stateful firewall and advanced routing features, OFR provides a complete one-box alternative to routing/firewall/VPN boxes from Cisco and Juniper for small and midsize companies.

Launched this week, Vyatta's Subscription Edition 2.0 of its Open Flexible Router (OFR) includes site-to-site IPSec VPN capabilities, letting users establish secure VPN tunnels between a company headquarters and remote offices. Similar to commercial small and midsize or other open source enterprise products, Vyatta's OFR 2.0 software can be downloaded for free, but costs $497 for a one-year support subscription, which includes software updates and patches, technical support and troubleshooting. The Linux-based OFR code can also be preloaded onto Dell PowerEdge server hardware, starting at $1,797.

OFR is based on the Debian Linux distribution and the eXtenseible Open Router Platform (XORP), an open-source IP routing stack. New to the OFR package is code from the open-source project Open Secure WAN (OpenSWAN), a software package for running IPSec VPNs on top of a Linux.

Version 2.0 of the Vyatta code was beta-tested by KeyMark, a Liberty, S.C.-based document management and automation company with offices in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Indianna. Now the software is supporting a site-to-site VPN between South Carolina and Virginia.

"It's been working flawlessly since we brought it up over a month ago," says David Nalley, network administrator for KeyMark. "It's one of the simplest open-source IPSec configurations I've done," compared to previous open-source IPSec VPN technology, such as FreeSWAN and OpenSWAN, which he has worked with previously, he adds. Listen to the interview (10:52).

KeyMark uses Dell PowerEdge 2950 servers with Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, and a Sangoma PCI-X T-1 card for connecting to the WAN. (This box replaced a Cisco 1700 series router).

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